Murder and Macaroons: A Cannoli Cafe Cozy Mystery by Lizzie Benton

Author:Lizzie Benton [Benton, Lizzie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: http://lizziebenton.com

Chapter Nine

Nicole turned into her driveway after teaching her night class. She noticed the light was on in the guest room, meaning Lia was back at her house, too. She rolled her computer bag into the house and heard Ringo.

Woof, woof, woof!

“Hi, boy! What’s that you have there? Did Aunt Lia treat you to a bone?” Nicole asked, happy to see her companion.

“Yes, and I am treating you to a glass of Malbec. I picked up this highly recommended bottle on the way here. I figured we could sip it while debriefing.” Lia handed Nicole a glass of red wine.

“Oh, yes, I need to indulge this evening. I’m so wiped out from teaching thermodynamics. It’s a four-hour class.” Nicole kicked off her shoes by the door and put her computer bag in the front closet. “I just remembered I’m supposed to call Dean tonight. I’ll go change real quick first, though. I just want to feel more comfortable. Can you let Ringo out for a few?”

“Okay, and then I’ll get the notes out and put a fire on so we can relax. It’s been a crazy couple of days!”

Nicole shot her friend a thankful look and went to her room. As she took out fresh flannel pajamas, she mentally prepared for her call with Dean, considering what she knew so far and wondering if he could shed light on anything.

She sat down on the edge of her bed and took a deep breath before she dialed, realizing this was the most she had spoken to him since high school. “Hello, Dean? It’s Nicole.”

“Hi Nicole, how was your class?” Dean answered, very enthusiastically.

“Oh, you know. I love thermo, but I’m a little more burnt out than usual tonight. Maybe with everything going on. I did call Aunt Lucia on the way home and she is recovering nicely in the hospital. I didn’t dare ask her anything, though.”

“Okay, good. How did the lunch meeting go?” Dean asked.

“Well, I wanted to speak with Dan Morano, but he sort of rushed out of the restaurant. I thought that he was acting a little odd, but I don’t want to be paranoid. Do you know much about him?”

“Actually, one of my contacts at the station told me he is a suspect on their list. They want to bring him in again for questioning tomorrow. Apparently he seemed too nervous as he was answering their questions. He claims he was in the kitchen cooking a steak himself to get it to the right temperature for a customer, but the alibi is a little troubling since no one can corroborate his story at the moment. Apparently the regular cook had been outside smoking on his break.”

Nicole got up and started pacing, processing what Dean had just told her. “Interesting. The other thing is, it was noted that the mayor wasn’t at the dinner. Do you have any info on that?”

“Now that’s interesting. You’d think she’d be there. They do have a long history of knowing each other. Mayor Eckel has always been in a position in the local government to promote him.

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